Week 10 // Making Art Everyday // Year Two • Bardot Brush

Week Ten

Magic is born from process.

Some of you might already know this, but I’m currently pregnant with my third baby! I’m just about to hit the 30-week mark, and time is ticking away until the day our family gets to meet this new little person. That day will be full of a crap-ton of hard work (hello, labor) but will result in something truly magical. As any mom can tell you, pregnancy ain’t magic, and babies don’t happen overnight. They are the result of a tiring and trying 40-week process. And I believe that enduring through that physical and mental process, plus putting in the effort in caring for yourself is a big reason why meeting that baby is so special.

Creativity is the same. You can’t spell “procreate” (and I’m not referring to the app) without the word create. Creativity can feel magical, but it’s not magic. It’s the result of a process. Right now you are putting in the effort and care to grow the artist within. When you feel the magic of creativity, it’s because you took the time to develop those skills and connect the brain cells that led to that “Wow, I made this!” moment.

What to Do

We’ve got a whole new month of MAE ahead of us. I’ve got a fun challenge built into this month that will require you to stick to the process to make something magical at the end.
That being said, remember to choose the approach to the prompts that works best for your life. Be ok with not drawing every day if it will save you from burning out.

March Prompts

Alphabet + Illustration

This month’s theme is Alphabet + Illustration! Each day is a letter and you’ll be finding a fun way to depict that letter with an illustration.

You’ll choose if you want to focus more on developing your hand-lettering skills, or illustration, or both! Each day’s prompt is a letter of the alphabet. Much like Party Animals week, the “plus” challenge is to pick a theme and stick to for the whole month (and try and complete all the letters!) Here’s the steps

STEP ONE: Pick a Theme
I left this open-ended for you because I want you to pick a subject matter that excites you. Here are some ideas:

If too many choices overwhelms you, choose from one of these three themes:

Different lettering styles
Things that make you – or someone you love – happy!
No theme at all! Just anything that starts with that letter (imagine a general kids ABC book, and you get the idea)

Or pick whatever theme you want! Other ideas: nature, food/drinks, animals (or a subcategory: farm animals, ocean live, etc.), science, vehicles, music, onomatopoeias, colors, things found in a city, travel, etc.

STEP TWO: Choose Your Approach
Choose an approach that works best for YOU. Here’s some ideas or come up with your own:

STEP TWO: Choose Your Approach

Choose an approach that works best for YOU. Here’s some ideas or come up with your own:

Just do letters: draw the actual letter in a fun, fancy way
Hand-letter a word that starts with that letter
Draw a thing that starts with that letter
Draw the thing interacting with the letter

If you stick with it for the entire month, you’ll have 26 illustrations, enough for a whole ABC book! In fact…

The big challenge this month is to MAKE YOUR OWN ABC BOOK! Let me tell you, there is nothing like physically holding a printed, bound copy of your artwork. Create it as a keepsake for yourself, or give it to your kids or other child in your life. I reached out to Mixbook, an awesome, easy-to-use book printer, and they are offering MAE participants 40% off one of their 6×6″ or 8.5×8.5″ photo books. Stay tuned for more info!

If you’d like to work toward the goal of printing your own book, be sure to draw all your artwork this month on a canvas that is at least 3000×3000 pixels, square.

To help give you time to prepare and plan out your month, Monday is a planning day (planning is an act of creativity too!). Spend this day deciding how you want to approach the prompts this month, choosing a theme, and thinking about what you want to draw for each letter of the alphabet.

WHEW that was a lot of info! Can’t wait to see what you create this month!

Week 10 | March 2-8

Alphabet Part 1

Mon: planning day
Tue: A
Wed: B
Thu: C
Fri: D
Sat: E
Sun: F

For my theme, I decided to do “things my kids like” and I’ll print it into a book to give them when I finish!

You can access each week’s prompts at makingarteveryday.com

Making Art Everyday // Bardot Brush

We’ve got a Facebook group just for participants of Making Art Everyday and all things Bardot Brush! Come join our group of supportive artists of all skill levels, share your work, ask questions, and be a part of the community!